


The Fate of Aughsburg

by JournalVerse



Series: Regverse [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, F/M, Fear, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Pre-Undertale, Suspense, Tension, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-11 13:00:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17447441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JournalVerse/pseuds/JournalVerse
Summary: The ambush on the Capitol wasn't the first strike against the Monsters during the brief war, we know. They had been quietly taking out town after town to eliminate potential threats in hopes for a quick victory. Now we learn the fate of one of the first Monster settlements to come under attack.





	The Fate of Aughsburg

Something was wrong.

The darkness around him lit up vaguely with the spark of his eyelights coming to life, the hollowed pin pricks turning immediately to the window. Normally he was a man that was hard to awaken, so much so did he love the comfort of his bed and carried that fatigue even after he got up, but not then. Something was off, though he didn’t know what or understand why. He could feel it in his bones. A sense of urgency crept under the wave of sleep and completely overthrew it, rendering him immediately restless. There was no way he could fall back asleep.

Shifting out from beneath the sheets and covers, the figure stepped out of bed and moved toward the window with habitual steps. He held the blinds down to peer out into the darkness of the night, seeing the sparse lamps lit across the street for late evening strollers. All in all, everything seemed calm. A normal atrociously late or begrudgingly early day. He wasn't convinced it was so innocent.

“Darling?” The voice was soft, and it came from the other side of the bed he had abandoned. Usually he would never ignore her, but the sense of unease pulled at his nerves stronger than the urge to turn and assure her everything was fine.

Instead, the man kept looking out. He squinted against the darkness, searching for a sign, movement, anything.

 There was a soft, rhythmic _click_ behind him until arms snaked around his torso. The woman embraced him close to her chest, settling her cheek against his shoulder as she too likely tried to see what her husband sought.

 “What is it, Fraktur?”

 When he finally spoke, his voice was low as if he were avoiding detection of an immediate threat, “I am not sure.”

 His free hand reached up to lay over one of her arms, tracing his fingers idly over the silk to try and keep himself grounded. Fraktur was uneasy, tense, and that didn’t happen often. Though maybe aloof, he didn’t often feel unsure about situations when it came to others' safety. Call it a habit he had picked up by being involved with law enforcement, but it was harder to unnerve him than it had been in his youth. In that moment, however, he was indeed unnerved.

 “Did you hear something?” Her voice was softer this time but closer, and Fraktur waggered she was trying to copy his caution. He saw her out of his peripheral vision, her skull barely touched by the closest street light.

 “I…” Frowning, Fraktur furrowed his brow against the darkness. “Again, I am unsure.”

 With instincts as strong as his, Fraktur knew there had to be _something_ amiss. He couldn't just awake out of a dead sleep to only encounter nothing. That just didn't happen.

 “Was it maybe a nightmare?”

 Shaking his head, Fraktur leaned his skull to his wife’s for a brief moment. “I highly doubt it. Something doesn’t feel right.”

 “Can you place it at all...?”

 Fraktur opened his mouth to speak only to stop, jerking his head toward the end of the street and pressing closer to the window. The motion successfully sent the blinds clacking against the glass, but he didn’t care or notice. There had been a flicker, briefly, before it was consumed by darkness. A second later and it reappeared, and then another behind it, beside it, then on the other side. As his brows drew further, more appeared down the street.

 “What on earth…” The woman’s whisper mirrored his thoughts, sending him down a list of possibilities. A cold, hollow dread opened up in his chest as the flickers became clearer.

 “Fire,” Fraktur breathed, watching the shapes as they were hoisted higher. What looked like strange flickers turned into a battalion of soldiers marching down the road in utmost silence, torches clasped in their hands and casting them in an even more ominous light than just the street lamps would have been.

 “Is that… humans? What are they doing?” Her voice was closer to a hiss of a whisper, his wife’s eyes studying just as hard as his own.

 His lack of answer was an answer all its own. He was glued to the scene, watching as three men split off from the group and approached a house further down the street. They knocked, but the shrubbery around the house hid what happened next as the three vanished inside the building. When he finally spoke, Fraktur’s hand moved to snake his fingers tightly with those of his wife.

 “They're making the first move. The humans have started their march. And we are their targets in the dead of night.” Looking toward his spouse with that quiet dread, the skeleton frowned and stared into her eyes. “Go to the basement. Leave only when you hear commotion die down and not a moment sooner.”

“What?” The woman’s brows shot up in startle only to furrow in concern, her eyes darting over her husband’s face. “And where will you go?”

“I will distract them,” Fraktur said assuredly, placing his other hand atop their clasped ones. “It will buy you ti-”

“Absolutely not,” the woman hissed back. Her free hand came up to grip Fraktur’s tightly, staring back under furrowed brows. “Either you come with me, or I go with you. There is no other option.”

“Helvetica,” the man spoke her name in surprise, but she would hear none of it as his mouth stayed open by words spoken over.

“We promised,” Helvetica insisted, squeezing his hands, “for better or worse, my love. I'm not letting you do anything alone.”

Taken off guard, Fraktur let out a huff of a breath as he stared at his wife. Usually a man would push and order her further, but he… could not. He had never been able to act that way toward her. Resolve was written across her face, and one of the things that had drawn the skeleton to her was Helvetica's strong will. She wouldn't back down without ample reason, and here she saw none.

“We could easily both die tonight,” he warned quietly, the words sending a sickening feeling through his soul to admit out loud. They could _die_ tonight.

There was a brief flash of that very same feeling across Helvetica’s face. She swallowed, however, and gripped his hands harder. Fraktur swore he felt them tremble against his own.

“Til death do us part.”

 And there it was. Sighing deeply, Fraktur leaned forward to press his forehead lightly to hers, eyes falling closed. “Then I will try to delay us parting sooner rather than later. With,” he added, “you beside me.”

 “I trust you,” Helvetica whispered back, her words quiet with sincerity.

 Silence fell over them. Fraktur took the time to drink in that precious moment. For all he knew, it could very well be the last chance of serenity they would have. Squeezing her hands, the man withdrew his face and looked out the window again. The figures had advanced two houses closer, one man waving toward a house as men broke apart to go toward it. As they did, others returned from the houses they had been signaled to. Clenching his jaw, Fraktur tore himself from the scene and gently tugged his wife with him toward the closet.

 “We have little time,” he said quietly. “We have to move.”

 He released her hand only to quickly secure on a pair of socks and his quietest shoes, glancing at Helvetica to make sure she was doing the same. When they were ready, once more their hands clasped and Fraktur lead them through the house. He lit no lights on his way, instead aiming straight for the basement entrance. Only when he opened the hatch and propped the door open did he grab the lantern beside it and strike a match. The small flame ignited and he crushed the match, throwing the remains under the closest object. Pale orange light was cast gently before them, only barely touching what looked like an abyss below.

 “Are we going to wait them out,” Helvetica asked quietly, glancing over her shoulder.

 “I doubt it.” He was frowning, leading them both gently into the dark. Once halfway down, he closed the basement hatch and continued downward with the lamp raised to eye level. “Humans are persistent. If this is their first strike of war, they will cleave all loose ends.”

 “Then what do we do?”

 Sighing, Fraktur wished he could give his wife an encouraging smile. Instead, the look he turned toward her was quietly worried, tired. “We play by ear.”

 Setting the lamp on the ceiling hook specifically for it, Fraktur squinted around in the dark until his eyes landed on what he had been counting on. There were boxes scattered around the basement, just annoyingly far apart from each other.

 “Helvetica,” he whispered, nodding toward a corner of the basement. “Could you grab the tarp for me?”

At her own nod, Fraktur released her hand and got to work. One at a time, he shoved and weaved boxes toward one another in an area of the room. He aimed for the corner, stacking them in such a way that made it seem like it had been tossed that way during moving. He left a single slot open, motioning for Helvetica to climb in. Once she was inside, he picked up the tarp she’d brought and tossed it over one side of boxes, waiting for it to settle and moving toward the center of the room. He was about to grab the light when he realized there were marks on the floor of disturbed dust from the boxes.

 “ _Verdammt_ ,” Fraktur hissed under his breath. Looking around quickly, he spotted an old broom and snagged it, flinging the bristles wildly across the floor to disturb the dust. It worked, and he bit back a cough as he settled the broom back against a supporting beam. Making a beeline for the lamp, he grabbed it and turned quickly for the pile. Just as he moved, the sound of rapid knocks came from above.

 “Honey, quickly,” Helvetica whispered urgently out of the hole, barely looking out to try and find him.

 He moved without hesitation, crouching beside the boxes once he was close enough. Leaning in, Fraktur placed the lantern in the woman’s hands as he made to climb in himself. The fit was incredibly tight, and tighter still when the skeleton moved to tuck the final box to fill the entrance. He slipped down as much as he could, scrunching against the planks of wood and other skeleton. Weaving carefully, they managed to find a position where Helvetica was sitting curled up in his lap and he curved around her protectively.

 “Kill the light,” he whispered under his breath. With a huff of air and a twist, the fire puffed out and they were bathed in darkness right as another wave of knocking sounded. Fraktur tucked his face against the woman’s neck, trying to keep his breathing steady and quiet. “Keep calm. Don’t move. Wait.”

 And wait they did. It was excruciating, and Fraktur swore that if anything would give them away, it would be the drumming of his soul beating wildly in his chest and skull.

 Above, there was the sound of an even louder bang than before. Then another. The third came in the sound of a _slam_ , something crashing to the floor in its wake. Fraktur could only assume it was the door breaking off its hinges. Helvetica flinched in his arms, and Fraktur merely tightened his grip around her, his fingers digging into her nightgown.

 Faint groaning came in the sound of the floorboards creaking, making soft noises each time someone took a step. Fraktur practically held his breath, listening close to the sound as he tried to pick them apart. Two men had come in, one walking toward where he imagined their room was and another pacing slower in the halls. He watched through his mind's eye, tracking their movements as the one doing the most searching started moving back toward the other after a minute of poking around.

 “ _...looks like… didn’t get far… search…”_

 The words were just barely far enough that he could only pick up a few of them, and either way he tossed it, Fraktur didn’t like the sound of their assumptions. Muffled creaks sounded again, one set going away and then the other unsettlingly closer. He listened close beyond his soulbeat, only for it to skip in anxiety as he heard the hatch of the basement open.

 Helvetica heard it too. She curled up tighter in his arms but thankfully didn’t seem to let panic overtake her. She stayed silent, the both of them listening close as the soldier descended agonizingly slow down the stairs. A soft thud accompanied his final step, and again Fraktur felt like he was holding his breath. More than anything he wished he could see what was happening, what the man was calculating, _anything_ beyond the near choking claustrophobic darkness of their barrakade.

 The footsteps began again, going toward the boxes. Dread was rising upward higher, and Fraktur closed his eyes as if that could make a difference. Crinkling sounded to their side, the noise of the tarp jerking upward quickly followed by silence.

 For that single moment, time stood still. Fraktur waited, every beat of his soul feeling like anxious agony. He had to know what was going on, what the next move was. If he had to, he would defend himself and his wife against the interloper. It could blow their cover but if they were discovered, it didn't matter. He just had to know if…

 Humming in unamusement, the soldier laid the tarp back down and made the sound of taking a few steps back. With the reaffirmation, the skeleton let go of the quietest, slowest breath he could possibly manage. Thank heavens. His tarp ploy had worked.

 The idea behind it had been to get the human to check it and settle his curiosity only to find it fruitless. Just a stack of boxes and a lazy tarp put over it because it had nowhere else to go. Surely nothing else to investigate. He was just glad that the soldier followed a predictable pattern of human curiosity.

 Creaking sounded as the soldier took a step onto the stairs and Fraktur strained to listen for his next move.

 “Basement’s clear,” the human called up. His voice was that of bored annoyance, and it made the skeleton clench his jaw in quiet irritation. As he ascended the stairs, another voice started talking on the floor above.

 “...not convinced they’ve fled the property,” he said, likely having moved closer to the basement entrance. “There’s too fresh of evidence that they were here recently.”

 “Alright. Torch it then.”

 In that moment, it felt like Fraktur’s soul dropped right out of his ribs. His breathing stayed quiet but it was strained, he _knew_ the humans wouldn’t just let it be. He waited until the creaking grew further away and he was sure the soldiers had exited the house before possibly thinking of what to do next.

 “Fraktur.” The breath of a voice made him jump, hitting his head ever so lightly on the box above him and forcing him to bite back a grunt. “Fraktur, they’re going to burn us alive!”

Shaking his head, the skeleton gently shushed her, listening for anymore sounds. He wanted to move, everything told him to _leave_ , but he knew they couldn’t. Not yet, they were still in danger if they left right then.

 “They’ll see us,” he insisted in a whisper, lifting a hand to cradle her skull close. “We have to wait.”

 He heard her taking a breath to speak but not the words that followed. A crash came from above, and then another. Fraktur held his breath again as he stared upward into the dark, listening closely, only to hear the sickening _snap_ of wood starting to burn. His eyes widened, fingers shaking as they gripped his wife’s nightgown harder.

 “Fraktur please,” Helvetica hissed, trying to move in his arms.

 “Honey we can’t,” he insisted back quietly, “the second we break cover they will see us. They’re waiting right outside for us to appear.”

 In his arms came a whimper, and Fraktur squeezed his eyes shut against it. He didn’t want his beloved to be afraid, to be killed, but oh he was frightened too. He knew they couldn’t leave yet but he knew they couldn’t stay. He somehow had to time it just right, and he honestly had no idea when that perfect time would be.

 Cracks and snaps slowly started to sound above them, growing in frequency as the seconds passed. Fraktur was desperately waiting, trying to judge when the soldiers would lose interest and when they could break free. He refused to sit there and burn alive, but he would not get killed at his own doorstep.

 “Fraktur,” his wife whispered worriedly.

 “Soon,” he promised, listening sickly to the sound of wood popping and sparking from the consuming flame. The smell of smoke was leaking past their barricade, and it only made his soul twist more in fast paced dread. It was in moments like that that he was thankful they didn’t have to breathe as deeply as humans, but he knew eventually the smoke would become too much. They couldn’t survive for long.

 Something snapped, falling onto the floor above them with a _thud_ . The man held his wife tighter, a sense of helplessness washing over him near suffocatingly. He was sure part of that was the smoke as well, but it was getting hard to tell. Another whimper sounded in his arms and Fraktur swallowed hard, his eyes darting around their tiny safe place. In actuality, their nook was probably the most dangerous of all. They were surrounded by _wood_ with a lantern at their ankles.

 Gritting his teeth, the skeleton bowed his head to Helvetica’s, “When I move, be ready.”

 She nodded in his arms, the movement fast and fueled by her fright. It was all Fraktur needed. Turning his head, he loosened an arm and bared his teeth at the closest wall. He threw his body into a single motion, sending the top two boxes crashing to the ground as something on the floor above them was consumed by fire and crashed itself. Using his body to shield Helvetica, he waited until he was certain nothing else would fall before peeking behind them. The opening was full of smoke, a haunting orange light being cast from further away.

 Wasting no time, the skeleton uncurled from around his wife stiffly and helped her out quickly as he backed out of their shelter. When he straightened out, his eyes balefully beheld flames already trying to sneak into the basement level. Smoke billowed from above, nearly forcing him to cough at the rancid thickness. There was no time to lose. Clasping one of her hands tightly, Fraktur jogged for the stairs and scaled them as he held an arm out in front of him to block wild sparks. He squinted past the embers and choking air, breaking the opening of the basement and stopping for only a split second at the top.

 It was horrific. His home... The drapes had caught, the couches, the walls were crawling with the intruding flame as it tried to scale higher. Swallowing hard, Fraktur forced himself not to gawk at the loss of his home. He couldn’t. Instead he turned, heading toward the kitchen as quickly as he could and aiming for the back door. He prayed it was safer and not a trap waiting to be sprung.

 As he crossed the threshold, the skeleton was jerked in his stride and stumbled. Looking back in panic, he both saw and felt Helvetica rip from his grip and race for a table back in the living room.

 “Helv--!” He bit back the shout, a whine in his throat following his bitten off cry. He couldn’t alert the possible soldiers outside.

 She didn’t run far, beelining for something in particular. Snagging what she had been aiming for, the woman turned and raced back toward him, a picture frame pressed close to her chest. She returned to his side, panting, snatching his hand and trembling in his grasp.

 “I had to,” she apologized breathily, pressing close to him, “I couldn’t leave them behind.”

 He didn’t even have to ask. Fraktur knew the picture she had grabbed, he had seen it every day for years. It was one of all four of them together: himself, Helvetica, their eldest and second son, Webding and Wingding respectively. It had been taken a few years before Webding left for Switzerland.

 Holding out his hand in a silent request, Fraktur took the frame as she passed it to him quickly. With a tight grip, he turned and smashed it against the wall in one swift movement. Flinching against the glass, he shook the shards and frame free, sliding the picture out of the mess and handing it back to her. Helvetica looked horrified at first, but understanding overcame her almost immediately and she nodded her thanks. She slipped the picture into the collar of her gown, laying her free hand over her chest to keep it in place.

 Groaning came from above. Both looked up in time to behold the roof splintering just over their heads, alight with embers trying to breed new chaos. Breathing in sharply, Fraktur squeezed his wife’s hand and jerked her away from the scene. She stumbled and he internally apologized for the behavior, but then hadn't been the moment to gawk. Dodging past leaping flames and coughing behind his arm, the skeleton charged for the back door and grabbed the edge of his shirt to take hold of the handle. A hiss sounded between his teeth as the metal still burned hot beneath the cloth, but he ignored it as the door begrudgingly opened beneath the weight of the failing architecture.

 The pair burst out of the threshold, sprinting into the darkness as the house wailed in devouring flames behind them. It creaked and sighed and snapped, steadily collapsing onto itself and sending sparks into the dark sky above.

 “Don’t look back,” Fraktur insisted, the sting of smoke burning his eyes even as they ran around the building and toward the back of other houses. “Don’t look back!”

 His breathing was scratchy but he couldn’t focus on that now. They had to escape Augsburg. Theirs wasn’t the only house bringing light to the night sky, a simple glance told him as much. The street was lined with the consuming flames, the houses further back already crumbling embers while others were just catching and roaring to life. The very sight made Fraktur’s soul lurch into his throat.

 The humans, the _cowards._ They had attacked when they knew the town would be asleep and the most vulnerable. He had no idea where else had been attacked, if they were the first, or what was happening. All he knew was that humans and monsters had been on the brink of war for roughly two years now, and it looked like the humans were finally engaging. They threw the first spark, lighting the flames of war.

 Around him, he could see shadows darting behind the burning buildings and even in the streets. Other skeletons were racing for cover, tailed by gun wielding soldiers ready to spill blood and dust alike. Something ripped through the air after one pair, causing Fraktur to look back. A human was flanked by two other soldiers, his hand extended out and smoking. Eyes widening, the skeleton looked where the trail of smoke led and found a smoldering pile of grass and gravel as a couple tried to scramble away.

 That was a _magic using human._ Was that one of the ones the papers and news had spoken about? Humans who had taken in monster magic? If they had sent them and soldiers to Augsburg, then it truly spelled disaster. They intended to wipe them out completely.

 Huffing in a new surge of determination and dread, Fraktur tugged them toward another building and wound around the corner. He darted into the trees by the road, racing beside it as the path lead out of the neighborhood. They had to get away.

 “Did you see that?” Helvetica gasped after him, trying to keep up at his side. “He threw _fire_! He was using magic!”

 “I saw.” Swallowing hard, Fraktur shook his head. “We’re in worse danger than I ever realized.”

 “Like hell you are!”

 Fraktur stumbled, barely catching his footing and planting himself in front of the woman that had been at his side. He huffed, trying to catch his breath as he was stared down by a line of rifle bearing soldiers. They stood in a line of six, eager to pull the trigger as soon as they saw any reason to. Even if that reason was simply existing.

 “Trying to escape so easily?” The taunt came from one of the humans in the middle as he grinned down the barrel of his firearm. “I don’t think so, freak.”

 Narrowing his eyes, Fraktur stood his ground tall. Not here, not yet.

 “Helv,” he breathed just barely loud enough for her to hear. “On my mark. And I am sorry.”

 The woman simply nodded.

 Under the gaze of the soldiers, Fraktur let his sockets go hollow and his face like that of stone. At the twist of his ankle, his left socket ignited in a blazing blue. Gasps sounded ahead of him as the ground quaked beneath booted feet, immediately drawing their attention away from the skeletons. Before they could even move, bones lunged upward and speared any and all who stood in their way. Any cries were cut short by punctures lungs and severed body parts, and the dangerous line was nothing more than a lifeless heap in mere seconds. The bones scattered in a wave of dust, and as soon as the bodies fell, Fraktur turned.

 With practiced speed, he scooped Helvetica into his arms and took off back into a run. Her arms circled his shoulders and she hid her face in her husband’s neck, keeping the sight from her eyes as long as possible. Fraktur ran past them, deeper into the trees and calculating how long it would take to get to a side road of the town. He couldn’t run forever, but he could at least hide them, get them away from all the carnage.

 He just had to…

 A hum filled the air. Startling out of his thoughts, the monster glanced over his shoulder just in time to watch a fireball crash into a tree he had barely ran past. Helvetica’s panicked yell at the impact filled his skull, leaving him reeling and racing for cover. No, no, no… A magic user, why did they have to have a magic user on their trail?

 Another deafening sound ripped through the trees, then a second, and all Fraktur could do in that moment was shout in pain. He lost his footing and tripped, crashing into a tree shoulder first and losing his grip on the woman in his arms. His eyes squeezed closed, blocking out the spinning world around him. Helvetica shouted again as she stumbled out of his embrace, and it took the man a moment to figure out what had happened.

 Gun, that was the sound of a gunshot, he’d been _shot_ . He’d been shot in the shoulder blade, and the pain was _incredible._ He flinched, shoving off the tree and looking desperately forward when he could open his eyes.

 Helvetica, she was still there. Still whole. She had stood and leaned against the same tree, an arm circled tightly around herself and a grimace on her face. Her gown was stained with dirt-- no. Beneath her hand was blood, not dirt. There had been a second bullet shot. There had been one for her too.

 “Sc-scheiße,” Fraktur hissed in pain. This was disastrous. His left arm was basically useless, his right one throbbing from where he'd hit the tree, and his wife had been shot in a rib. Any advancing at all would be absolute hell. Reaching out his uninjured arm for her, Fraktur desperately sought her attention with the movement. Looking up, Helvetica stumbled forward into his side and grabbed his hand. She held it close, clutching it for dear life in pain and in desperation to be close.

 “How touching!” From behind them weaved a blonde haired man in robes and-- armor? An odd choice. He squinted at them and grinned but not at all kindly, his eyes studying them. Others crept up beside the man, one reloading their gun as he took up position. The one who stepped forward first though, he was different. Dressed different. He wasn’t a soldier. “Even faced with such odds and you still hold hands.”

 Then it clicked. He had been the one to throw the fireball. A mage. Frowning hard against the situation and his own pain, Fraktur attempted to take a protective step in front of the other skeleton.

 “I wouldn't go any further, bones,” the mage sneered, causing the monster to pause. “You’re already injured. Be a good _man_ and take the firing squad.” His hand moved upward, and in his palm gathered a ball of flames that cast a heinous light across his grin. Helvetica gasped beside him and Fraktur again moved to take a step in front of her. He was afraid and in pain himself, but he would _not_ let them touch her again unless they went through him. “Unless you'd rather be burned alive. I know _I_ would enjoy it, but I'm feeling generous. So I'll let you make the call.”

 The six other men raised their rifles, training their sights straight on the pair. Fraktur’s soul was pounding as he looked at the barrels. Whether it was from the sight or the pain, he felt completely sick. The mage would prove any escape impossible, especially when they were both injured. He was strong though, calculated, if he timed it just right he could take them all with one--

 “Don't take my generosity for granted,” the man warned, his grin turning toward a tight, toothy frown. “If you decide to push your luck, there's more men and magic users beyond us. We took no chances with you boss beasts. You have no chance getting out of town alive, especially in your condition, so go quietly. Think of it as an act of _mercy._ ”

  _Scheisse_ . Fraktur gritted his teeth. He had no reason to believe the mage had more allies beyond, but he also had no reason _not_ to. The skeleton hadn't ever been a man to give up, but the sound of groaning buildings falling behind him and cries cut short by gunfire were hard to ignore. That and the pain scouring up his arms and back, it made it nearly impossible to think straight. How far could they really go? They were being hunted and slaughtered relentlessly, all in the shadow of the night.

 And likely would continue to be no matter how far they ran.

 “...Darling?”

 Swallowing dryly, Fraktur squeezed his wife's hand tighter. _Til death do us part. And so maybe death has found us too soon_. Beyond his vows, another thought came to mind. Two faces specifically, faces he had watched grow and mature. Faces he would be proud of for all eternity. For all he knew, his sons were safe. That was all that mattered and he would hold that thought close as the pain made everything else cloudy in its sharp wake. It broke his heart completely knowing he couldn't do the same for the woman he loved, the woman clinging to his side, but in the end it was only a race to see how far they'd get. It had been this entire time, really.

 And they had crossed their finish line.

“I love you,” the skeleton whispered, pressing her close to his side as his throat began to close with emotion, “Helvetica.”

 His shirt tightened as Helvetica grabbed fists full of it. She moved to hide in his shoulder, trembling, while his arms wound tightly around her and held her to his chest. His shoulders and arm screamed from the pain, but he bit every ounce of it back so he could hold her close. He would _not_ be denied that embrace. Not in that moment. Not ever.

 He could feel her soul close to his, racing as his was, and it only served to solidify the moment further. As he leaned his skull against hers, Fraktur glared poisonous daggers at the slowly grinning mage before them. The human snuffed the fire in his hands, folding them behind his back with a twisted grin of triumph. A _harumph_ of a laugh passed through his throat.

 “Good call, _Abschaum_.”

 Fraktur narrowed his eyes. The earth split open in a flash, two bones ripped upward from the crevice. They sliced through the mage as he gasped wetly in surprise against the sudden attack, choking on his own life fluid and staring in utmost horror toward the pair of monsters. A sickening _thump_ accompanied his fall to the ground as the bones disintegrated into magic, the angry cocking of guns following the action. Helvetica’s grip on him tightened and Fraktur closed his eyes with a sigh, tucking his face into her skull.

  _Be brave, my love. It'll only be a moment._

 A barrage of bullets ripped through the night, echoing viciously through the trees. As the silence settled over the area in its wake, a bloodied, hole riddled picture fluttered and laid across a bed of dust in the dark.


End file.
